The Los Angeles Lakers started the 2022-23 NBA season with a rough 123-109 loss against the Golden State Warriors and they now head into another tough match-up against the Clippers.
The bookmakers expect LeBron James and his crew to take another loss on Thursday. Bookmaker Bovada has the Clippers as 5.5-point favorites for the clash with the odds at -110. The moneyline odds for a Lakers win are at +180.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: October 19th, 7:00 P.M. (EST)
The Lakers started their season opener reasonably well, but the offense disappeared in the third quarter and they couldn’t hang with the champions anymore from that point. LeBron kicked off his 20th campaign with a very solid 31-point effort and ended up being just two assists short of a triple-double. He will look to run the show again for the Lakers on Thursday.
The Clippers have yet to take the court and it’s going to be fascinating to see how their new lineup looks. The team seems stacked following the arrival of John Wall and their bench might just be the strongest in the league.
It’s also going to be interesting to see how Kawhi Leonard looks after missing the whole 2021-22 campaign. He already made his return to action during the preseason, but there’s going to be a completely different intensity in a regular season game, especially in a match-up against your biggest rivals.
With Paul George also back healthy again, the Clippers have a great one-two punch that only a few can match in the league. They will look to outperform LeBron and Anthony Davis on Thursday, and the Clippers will have a great chance at victory if their star duo doesn’t disappoint.
The Battle of L.A. has been a one-sided affair in recent times as the Clippers have swept the regular-season series in back-to-back years. Despite their injury woes, they managed to go 4-0 in the head-to-head meetings last season, even demolishing the Lakers 132-111 in the most recent clash.
The current streak of seven consecutive victories is the Clippers’ best run against their neighbors since winning 11 in a row from 2013-14 to 2015-16. Knowing LeBron and his competitiveness, he will be ready to give everything it takes to end the awful run of results Thursday night. But he won’t be able to do it all on his own, and the Lakers’ chances will hinge on their ability to match the Clippers’ strength in depth.
